


Pumpkin Spice Latte for the Cute Girl in Pink

by Mantype



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Genre: Do I ever plan on trying one? NO, F/F, coffee shop AU, have I ever had a PSL? NO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 22:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16606238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mantype/pseuds/Mantype
Summary: Perfuma nervously drummed her fingers on the table she was sitting at, occasionally sneaking a glance at the cute girl, focusing in on the deep color of her hair, the way she confidently carried herself around the coffee machines. Perfuma was, to say the least, completely entranced.“Pumpkin spice for the cute girl in pink,” it took a moment for Perfuma to realize she was talking about her, and when it had sunk in that the barista had just called her cute- Perfuma’s face turned the same shade as her dress.





	Pumpkin Spice Latte for the Cute Girl in Pink

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to my fellow Merfuma stans over on tumblr @merfuma and @gayperfuma Love you two!

Perfuma entered the Starbucks, cringing internally- she usually never went to chain stores, preferring to support smaller businesses instead. But business ethics aside, here she was, at 5:00 am, in the only open coffee shop around.

“Hi, how can I help you,” the girl at the counter asked, her voice, which Perfuma couldn’t help but notice had a slight rasp, bored. 

She looked at the barista, flustered.h “Oh! Hi! Can I- get…” Perfuma looked up at the menu board, completely lost in the possibilities. 

“New to the grand world of Starbucks?” the girl behind the counter asked, smirking slightly. 

Perfuma laughed. That was certainly true. “You’re right in saying that. Not to mention I’m half asleep and your menu thing is just a hurricane of information.”

“Well, all the cool kids come here and order Pumpkin Spice Lattes this time of year, you could try that.”

Caught up in the moment, Perfuma didn’t have time to let her brain, which knew she hated coffee, catch up with her mouth, which was already speaking her assent. “Sure, that sounds great.” 

“What size?” 

“Um… small?”

“Ok cool.” The barista inputted something into the computer as she continued, “Whipped cream with that?” 

“Sure?” At this point Perfuma had lost herself watching the cute barista- she was already more whipped and any cream could be.

“Ok! Last thing, I just need you name.” The girl looked up at Perfuma, and for a second Perfuma was lost in her eyes, deep brown and glowing slightly in the harsh artificial lighting of the Starbucks. “Hello? Earth to unnamed girl?” 

“Right, sorry.” Perfuma felt her face heat up. “Can you tell I’m still half asleep? My name’s Perfuma.” 

“That’s a nice name Perfuma. Your coffee with be ready in a few.”

“Thank you!” Perfumamanaged to squeak out before she left the counter to sit and wait for her coffee, her face still bright red from the interaction. She mentally barated herself, why did she order a latte? She didn’t even like coffee, she had been hoping to order a tea or something. Curse her for getting so distracted by the cute barista. What was her name? She could have easily looked at her name tag. Perfuma nervously drummed her fingers on the table she was sitting at, occasionally sneaking a glance at the cute girl, focusing in on the deep color of her hair, the way she confidently carried herself around the coffee machines. Perfuma was, to say the least, completely entranced. 

“Pumpkin spice for the cute girl in pink,” it took a moment for Perfuma to realize she was talking about her, and when it had sunk in that the barista had just called  _ her _ cute- Perfuma’s face turned the same shade as her dress. 

Perfuma walked up to the counter, trying her best to ignore how warm her face was at that particular moment. “Thank you,” trying desperately to think of a fitting complement to respond with, she went with the first thing that came to her head; “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful your voice sounds?” She looked at her name tag and added on, “Mermista.”

Mermista smiled coolly, casually leaning her chin on her hand, “Never by someone as beautiful as you.” 

“O- oh.” Perfuma was lost for words, choosing instead, to take a drink of her latte. She instantly regretted that decision: the drink was definitely not what she was used to, and her face scrunched up in a way she couldn’t imagine was cute. It was all she could do not to spit it out right at Mermista.

“I take it PSLs aren’t exactly to your tastes,” the girl across the counter giggled, and suddenly it was worth it just to hear the sound of her laugh. Perfuma internally shook her head, she had hardly learned this girl’s name more than a minute ago and here she was falling in love with her laugh. 

Perfuma swallowed the weird-tasting coffee concoction before speaking, taking her time to get her voice back. “Not particularly no, I’m more of tea person actually, but-” Perfuma stopped herself from continuing, she was about to say how distracted she had been by Mermista. 

Mermista narrowed her eyes playfully, “But what?”

“But… I was still half asleep?” Perfuma finished lamely, her voice rising as if it was a question. 

With eyebrows raised, the overly confident, overly pretty, overly perfect, girl replied, “If you say so.” She laughed again, Perfuma felt herself melt. “Give me a minute, I’ll fix you some tea, what kind do you like?”

“That’s an option? Jasmine if possible.”

“Coming right up, go ahead and have a seat.” With a wink Mermista added: “Then you can stare at me from a place of comfort.”

Again, Perfuma’s face turned scarlet, and she nodded, wanly walking over to one of the couches. She sat down, collapsing onto the couch. She was, so to say,  _ weak  _ from her interaction with Mermista. 

A couple minutes passed, just enough for Perfuma to recover somewhat, and Mermista walked out from behind the counter to bring Perfuma her drink personally. “You’re honestly lucky you’re so early, otherwise I’d be busy serving other customers.”

“Right! Hey, why don’t you take a seat too, if someone shows up you can always get up.” Perfuma took the tea from Mermista, blushing very slightly as their fingers brushed against each other. 

“Works for me,” Mermista sat down across from Perfuma, resuming her earlier position at the counter by placing her elbow and the table and resting her chin on her palm. “So, Perfuma, what brings you out to my humble Starbucks so early in the morning?”

“Well, there’s this flower that only blooms at night and I was catching a glimpse of it at the community garden. I was just on my way home, but I felt like I might fall asleep so I decided I needed a tea stop. And, well, Starbucks was the only thing open at this hour.” 

“Well, lucky for me you did.” 

“Yeah…” Perfuma trailed off, lost in Mermista’s beautifully deep brown eyes. 

Mermista laughed again. She pulled a sharpie out of her apron pocket and grabbed Perfuma’s arm. “Here, let me write my number on your arm. Next time you’re on a midnight flower run, let me know.” 

“Oh!” Perfuma offered her arm, not sure what to say. Was she really getting this girl’s number? Right now, in this moment, here? She thanked the world for setting her up so kindly, and Starbucks, for being an insufferable commercial chain that operated at early enough hours to beat out other coffee shops. 

Mermista finished writing, and looked up at Perfuma. The two girls made eye contact, and for a minute, they stayed that way, a comfortable silence between them, each lost in the other’s shade brown. 

The moment was interrupted by the opening of the door. A customer had arrived. The girls were snapped out of their trance, Perfuma silently cursing the existence of other humans. 

“Sorry, I have to go, morning rush is probably about to start, text me though!” Mermista whirled away to behind the counter, and gave Perfuma a wink and some last words before turning to serve her customer. “I get out at 9.” 

“Right! I’ll be sure to do that.” Perfuma left the shop, giving Mermista a wave as she went. As soon as she made it to her car her whole body relaxed and she let out a squeal of joy. She still couldn’t quite believe it. Perfuma went over the whole interaction a hundred times in her head. She looked at her arm just to make sure it was real. Yup, the ten numbers were still there, written bold and clear, and she hadn’t noticed it before, but right at the end, Mermista had drawn a little heart. Perfuma melted all over again. She pulled out her phone, typing in the number in a new contact. She decided she might as well send a message while she was at it. She typed out “Hey! Perfuma here!” She almost hit send, but decided to add a little heart emoji as well. Hey, she was allowed to be tacky sometimes. 

Moral of the story, Perfuma decided, was Pumpkin Spice Lattes are terrible, but it’s all worth it for Starbucks’ cutest mermaid barista.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I had so much fun writing this!! It took me about a week but it was worth it for my girls :))))  
> partially inspired by this post: https://perfemma.tumblr.com/post/179895275405/gay-culture-is-ordering-a-pumpkin-spice-latte-just  
> but I was already writing a coffee shop au before I saw itjdbsjbvk


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